Russell and Kath Jaggard are closing the doors of Video Ezy Kamo for the last time at the end of this month.
The closure will leave just one DVD rental store in Whangarei from March 1, United Video in Vine St.
When the Jaggards bought into the franchise five years ago there were close to 115 Video Ezy outlets nationwide and seven DVD rental stores in Whangarei.
"With us closing, there will be one store left in Whangarei and only seven Video Ezys nationwide," Mr Jaggard said.
Network Video Tikipunga closed on January 28.
Mr Jaggard said the hardest part would be saying goodbye to the businesses' loyal staff members and regular customers.
"We had two permanent part-time workers and one casual on-call. They have all been with us for close to the full five years we have been in business," Mr Jaggard said.
"We have become a very close-knit team and we will miss the family environment.
"We are also going to miss our regular customers. We really did love working in the industry," he said.
Mr Jaggard said the past few years had been particularly challenging.
"Over the last year, we have noticed a huge drop in customers through the door which equates to our bottom line dropping below a sustainable level. Our lease is expiring at the end of March so we had to make the hard call whether to renew the lease for two years or pull the pin now."
Mr Jaggard said Video Ezy Kamo diversified in to My Pop Culture three years ago specialising in other movie related products – Pop! Vinyls, comics, Pokemon cards, posters, games and other movie-related merchandise including online sales.
"This proved popular in the early days, but has tapered off now.
"With a number of online streaming sites, and special deals on sites made by broadband suppliers, there was just no way for us to compete.
"Technology has taken over," he said.
The last day for rentals was on Sunday, February 4. The doors will close on February 28 but the Jaggards will be holding garage sales in store during the weekends throughout March.
"Any leftover stock will be stored and sold off on Trade me. Any My Pop Culture stock remaining will be passed on to My Pop Culture in Tauranga."
Mr Jaggard said he was going back to his former profession as a sales representative for a local roofing company.
"I am looking forward to the new challenges this will bring," he said.